• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Joint Public Issues Team

Churches working for peace and justice

  • Home Page
  • Who We Are
    • Six hopes for society
  • Issues
    • Economy
      • Tax Justice
      • Reset The Debt
      • Living Wage
    • Environment
      • Net Zero in My Neighbourhood
    • Poverty and Inequality
      • The Cost of Living Crisis
      • Universal Credit
      • Truth and Lies
      • Enough
      • Rethink Sanctions
      • Faith in Foodbanks
      • Housing and Homelessness
    • Asylum and Migration
      • Refugees
      • End Hostility
      • The Asylum System
    • Peacemaking
      • The Arms Trade
      • Nuclear Weapons
      • Drones
      • Peacemaking resources
    • Politics and Elections
      • Elections
      • Meet Your MP
      • Art of the Possible
      • Brexit
    • Other Issues
      • International Development
      • Modern Slavery and Exploitation
        • Forced labour in fashion
  • Get Involved
    • JPIT Conference 2022
    • Newsletter
    • Events
    • Walking with Micah
  • Resources
    • Advent
    • 10 Minutes on… podcast
    • Politics in the Pulpit?
    • Stay and Pray
    • Season of Creation
    • Prayers
    • Public Issues Calendar
    • Poetry
    • Small Group Resources
  • Blog

Blog, Poverty and Inequality · 13 August, 2018

Rising homelessness in the UK: Complex or embarrassing?

Homelessness in all its forms is rising in the UK. Around 5,000 people sleep rough in England and Wales each night, more than double the number of 8 years ago. These are just a fraction of those who are homeless; 80,000 families including 120,000 children are in temporary council accommodation, while hundreds of thousands more sleep on friends’ couches and have no place to call home.

The minister for housing, James Brokenshire MP, was asked if the rises in homelessness were a result of Government policy today. He rejected the idea and said that the causes were “complex”. This line has been used by government spokespeople throughout the day.

Like the best misleading lines this is not entirely untrue. But the conveniently emphasised “complexity” hides a much simpler message – if you take away money from the poorest families then you mustn’t be surprised if many can’t afford to pay the rent.

The government has directed a large number of cuts to housing benefits over the past 8 years. From removing entitlement entirely from some groups, 1 to freezing and capping benefit rates, ordinary homes have become unaffordable to many people receiving benefits.

Is the new government plan to end rough sleeping a case of the Conservatives fixing a problem of their own making? Homelessness has gone up 170% since 2010

Read more on the government's plan to end rough sleeping here: https://t.co/5nT6pEZWas pic.twitter.com/cKKx6b4iib

— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 13, 2018

Just one of these policies, the 2012 Housing Benefit Cap, meant that in inner London the proportion of houses affordable for Housing Benefit claimants dropped from 50% to 7%. It was shouted from the rooftops that this would lead to an increase in homelessness – and all the evidence indicates that it did.2

It is notable that after huge welfare cuts taking around £20Bn away from the UK’s poorest families, the number of people needing help from foodbanks has risen from less than 100,000 in 2010 to 1,332,952 last year. The reasons for this rise were also described by the DWP as “complex”.

Indeed, as detailed here a number of the bad consequences of government policy on the poorest families have been describes as “complex”. I have come to the conclusion that ministers have a dictionary which defines the word:

“complex” – an embarrassing situation likely caused by (this) Government’s policy, for which we wish to avoid responsibility

With that in mind I agree that this is a “complex” situation that needs to be solved. The Government’s new strategy is a start, but they have missed out a key element of this policy – tackling the fact that families simply do not have enough money.

Footnotes

1 These are mostly migrants, who have had money removed as part of the hostile environment web of polices and who are now very likely to be sleeping rough.
2 An impartial short summary of the effects of welfare reform from the House of Common Library see p40 http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN02007/SN02007.pdf

Filed Under: Blog, Poverty and Inequality Tagged With: complex, homelessness, housing

Paul Morrison

I am the policy advisor with particular responsibility for issues around the economy including poverty and inequality. Prior to working for the Methodist Church I was a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College studying viral disease and vaccine design.

Previous Post: « “Dangerous and unnecessary” – On Hiroshima Day we highlight the Church of England’s new thinking on nuclear weapons
Next Post: Church leaders ask Home Secretary for end to hostile environment »

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Posts

  • Homes for Ukraine – One Year On
  • Response to the ‘Illegal Migration Bill’ – March 2023
  • Ukraine Invasion – One Year On
  • JPIT’s Review of 2022
  • What does Government Support for Asylum Seekers really provide?
  • God with Us – the Refugees of Calais and Dunkirk
  • How can we respond to COP27?
  • Statement on the conclusion of the COP27 Climate Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
  • COP27 – what should we be looking for?
  • “He has filled the hungry with good things” – What we need from the Autumn Budget
  • What are the stories we should tell about the humanitarian crisis at Manston Airport Asylum centre?
  • How can we be sure that the products we buy are not the result of modern slavery?
  • Why I hate Warm Banks (and why my church is opening one)
  • How does our theology call us to challenge Poverty?
  • Introducing Alfie
  • Biden says nuclear risk is the highest since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Churches respond to risk to benefit levels
  • Briefing on the ‘Mini Budget’ for the Enough to Live group
  • Introducing Hazel
  • Introducing Hannah

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Footer

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Quick links

Stay and Pray
Politics in the Pulpit
Faith in Politics podcast
Public Issues Calendar
Useful Links

Our work

About Us
Meet the Team
Join the Team 
Internship
Our Newsletter

Contact us

25 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5JR

Tel: 020 7916 8632

enquiries@jpit.uk

Copyright © 2023 · Showcase Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in